It's a Marshmallow World

Sunrise  10:07 a.m         Sunset 2:55 p.m.

We have been fortunate to have such a warm early winter/late fall here in the Interior. Fortunate, until last week. We got socked with a nasty ice storm, which was much worse to the north, in Fairbanks/North Pole.  We seemed to receive enough damage.  The trees were loaded and drooping with ice, the roads were slippery and treacherous, work and school was canceled, and then we got snow.  Woohoo for snow.  TRACTION!!  Then the snow plows came and we're back to icy, slippery, treacherous roads.  Dislike.

Saturday morning I slept in, another bonus to the sunrise coming so late in the day.  I wandered sleepily downstairs to use the facilities (thank goodness we don't have an outhouse) and stopped to take in the snow falling lightly outside the living room window.

As I was standing there, Cash came running, like a streak of lightening, into the yard.  That usually means one thing.  He's in trouble.  Ha!  Just as soon as he got to the edge of the gravel, his ears perked up and he took off, just as fast, back down the driveway.  Luckily I knew that Brent must be calling him, and I didn't think much of it.  I continued on my way to the destination afore mentioned.  

Not two minutes later, Brent and the furkids came back to the house.  All in a line, and no one seemed to be in trouble.  No sooner had Brent gotten through the door, than he was telling me about his attempted walk with the dogs, down the driveway, out to the road, through the woods, back home again.  It didn't happen.  

As he started down the driveway there were fresh prints and scrapings.  Like any good dog, they marked their territory, right on top of the fresh scrapes.  They continued along to the berm that flanks the East side of the driveway, only to discover more prints, and much more scraping.  All of this is old news, familiar smells and sights to Ches, but not to Cash.  When he smelled them, he dashed, for home.  Unbeknownst to Brent.  Who thought Cash was on the chase, called him back, only to discover that he was tucking tail and running home to Mama like the scaredy cat he is! LOL.

Turns out...THIS is what he was smelling...  Camped out on the street outside our house.  All. Day. Long.

Meet Mr. Bull.  Proud old man.

And these were his companions for the day.  Mrs. Moose and The Twins.  

The rest of the weekend seemed to fly by.  And four days was simply not enough time to play.  I did some cleaning, some organizing, attempted to decorate for Christmas and realized that I don't have much of anything.  And since I don't have much, I'm going to change the color to scheme more traditional Christmas colors.  

Sunday night we had friends over for dinner.  I fixed a lovely bacon topped pork loin, mashed potatoes, cauliflower au gratin (which was supposed to be broccoli au gratin- but the IGA was OUT), fresh rye bread and Rose brought a Delicious lemon cranberry bundt cake.  A little bit of heaven in a pan.

Tonight the temperatures continue to fall.  I find myself stoking the fire in an attempt to get the interior temperature above 69 degrees.  It doesn't seem possible.  The logs are wonderfully warm insulators, the upstairs walls are not quite so warm.  And I find my hands, and nose, dreadfully cold in the morning.

Sleep tight.  Stay warm.  Sweet dreams!

Try and Try Again

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you again everyone for your thoughtfulness. It was so nice to reach the mailbox each and every day, to find another letter, card or package. You made my day extra special.

11 p.m. Sky on May 15, 2009

This package arrived from my younger brother Kyle, and his girlfriend Jana. It's a great Independence Day wall hanging and tea towel. I look forward to using it soon! And the other item is a cute keychain from Hess. THANK YOU!

Friday evening Brent took me out for pizza. There's a great place in town that opened up just a few weeks ago, I believe. Since the dining establishments are, uh, limited in Delta, we hit up Birch Brothers pizza. It was very good. We ate our pizza while Ches waited in the car. Then we loaded up and headed over to a friends to chat and get me out of the house for a while. It was great. Relaxing, filling and perfect.

Unfortunately, Saturday did not fair as well for us.

We had reserved a cabin on Lisa Lake for the weekend. I wish I had a picture, it is breathtaking. We trudged, tromped and plodded through tundra, moss, swamp, mud, water, you name it, to get there. On foot. Carrying everything two people and a dog would need for a weekend in the woods. Much to our dismay, when we neared the end of the trail it was impossible to reach the cabin. I could have cried. And nearly did. We back tracked, forged ahead, repeating this process numerous times over the period of about one and half hours. All in the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, as I stood contemplating what items could easily be replaced and left in the woods, we decided to head for home.

We were both so disappointed. So. Disappointed. We were so close. How close? We could see everything, except that darn cabin. The boat, the water, the mountains. Us and nature. How divine does that sound?

Being hardheaded and determined not to let this minor (MAJOR) set back ruin our weekend, we headed home to regroup and find an alternate plan. Since it was so gorgeous we piled into the car and headed towards Donnelly campground south of Delta Jct. As our luck would have it, the cabin was taken. Since we don't have a tent, we officially scrapped the camping idea and decided to head home, once again, to try to find a plan. And we managed to find a nap in the process. LOL. It was a very trying morning. Very.

After a few moments rest, and a little stomping about we decided to pack up the grill, some fixings and head out to enjoy the mountains views and just hike, grill and relax before heading home for slumber.

We hiked and explored until we came to this resting spot. Here we sat, and listened as the wind rushed through the valleys and over the peaks. We listened to swans calling, ducks taking flight, and nature surrounded us.

Sunny snow-tipped Alaska Mountains

We just sat, and took in all the beauty and glory around us. We watched a bald eagle sit atop of the trees, swaying in the breeze. Here, if you look closely, you will see two caribou bucks grazing along the creek. They were happy to entertain us for the duration of our stay. We kept hoping for a moose, or perhaps a bear, but none were to be seen this day.

The view of the valley

After resting and relaxing in our own bed on Saturday evening, we headed out to this same spot on Sunday a.m. We did a short little hike, then plopped down in our new favorite spot to enjoy the view. This morning we saw a lone caribou make his way across the entire valley. He kept a wary eye on us.

When our souls were full we headed into town for brunch with Sid & MaryLou. They wanted to treat us, partly for my birthday, and partly for our care and help while Sid was on Shemya Island. We had great food and great company. After brunch we headed to their home, as MaryLou had a gift for me. She bought me a jade plant. I don't have much of a green thumb, so I'm a little worried about that. But a jade plant I have. It's said to bring luck to the household it graces. Bring on the luck!

Napping is our favorite weekend past time, as you may discover in this post alone. So Sunday was no different, we snuck some zzz's and then Brent and Sid headed out to hit the fishing holes. Success was had! Our freezer now holds rainbow trout and grayling. Ha! So we'll be grilling up some fish shortly.

Monday we made a very quick trip to Fairbanks. We had to go because I desperately needed a blow dryer, mine exploded on Friday. And Brent needed some items that we just couldn't find in town. So we made record time to and fro, and then dropped off the groceries and headed for the mountains. It was a glorious, albeit windy, day. We wandered the roads behind Donnelly Dome, and it is filled with dozens and dozens of lakes. We saw bison (with babies), moose, caribou, snow shoe hares galore, eagles, hawks and it was awesome! Why no pics? Hmph. I'm just learning to use my new camera, and operator error has caused me to lose some pics, or make them unuseable anyway. I'll see if I can rescue them in the coming days. If so, I'll post them.

And that brings us to today. I worked on unpacking and cleaning, since we did nothing the entire weekend that was household related. I cleaned windows and floors, and I'm STILL waiting for the phone to ring.

On another note, please think of my brother, Brent, who is recovering from his tangle with a chain saw over the weekend. I know it involves his foot, 4 hours in the E.R. and some stitches, hoping you heal soon! And to my sister-in-law Sara, who lost her beloved aunt to cancer yesterday afternoon.

Hoping you are enjoying spring as much as we are!! Happy day!

Here Comes the Weekend

So, it's been a pretty uneventful day. Brent got home earlier today which was so nice. It's just nice to have someone to talk to, and the ability to leave. We didn't do much, but we did take a drive in the daylight and explored some new roads and areas. Tomorrow we're hoping to do more of that, and I'll actually have to remember to bring the camera and see what we can catch a glimpse of.

Other than that we're just planning to lay low this weekend and just try to see things, and get familiar. If it's warm enough we may try to get to the state park for a walk. Ches could use some exercise besides a leashed walk, and chasing the ball in the living room. All in all, she's happy and content to just be cuddled and be with us. Which is nice.

I think once things actually just start to fall into place for us we'll truly love it. There is a festival coming up in late February and early March in Fairbanks that we're hoping to get to. Just to get out and start exploring a little further from home. We'll also have to get to North Pole and take some photos of the 100 ft Santa.

So, hoping you have a great weekend. Stay warm, and I hope your favorite team wins the Super Bowl! Happy day!